World Book Day.

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To celebrate World Book Day the Daily Telegraph has printed an article about our reading habits.
According to the article many of us pretend to read highbrow books in order to appear more intelligent.

Included in the books they list are
Ulysses by James Joyce.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.
Nineteen eighty four by George Orwell.
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert.
and The Bible.

It is said that many copies of these books are languishing on bookshelves across the country . Readers in general are seen to prefer J.K. Rowling, John Grisham, Sophie Kinsella, Jilly Cooper and Mills and Boon.

I don't know where I am placed here as my preferences are in neither group. I own a couple of different versions of the Bible which I have read in places, certainly not all the way through unfortunately. Other than that I don't own a single copy of the 'classics' list or the preferred contemporary list.
Maybe I am not keen to impress or maybe I read what I like , I feel the latter is correct.
What are your thoughts on this article?


Whatever you are reading today,hope you have a good 'World Book Day'.

Comments

Lezlie said…
I haven't read the article. (I'll have to do that later. It sounds interesting!) But the list here made me smile. I've read The Bible, 1984, and War & Peace, for real, all the way through, no pretending or skimming! And Madame Bovary and Ulysses are on my list for this year. I feel so smart! :-)

Lezlie
5 March 2009 at 13:33
claire said…
That's interesting haha. I haven't read the first four on the list but would like to, especially Ulysses and War & Peace. I love the Bible and have reread it many times, and continue to read it still.

I like reading JK Rowling but could never get through a Grisham, nor Sophie Kinsella, and don't know who Jilly Cooper is. I also couldn't stand Mills & Boon at all, but my aunts and a cousin used to read a lot of them. They just never appealed to me.
5 March 2009 at 21:57
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